304: Chapter 302 The Dilemma of the Celestial Craftsmen

After Shen Nian returned from the depths of the passage, he did not immediately tell the Disciple about the Creator.

That information was too vast and too distant; he needed time to digest it and also needed to find a suitable opportunity.

He returned to the core space, sat cross-legged again beside the crystal nucleus, closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, and let the information that had poured into his Sea of Consciousness slowly settle.

But on the third morning, when he walked toward the periphery of the Heart of Tiangong again, he noticed a change.

The grass he had created was still rooted on that wall.

But the appearance of that grass had changed—it had grown a bit taller, its stem had become thicker, its leaves had increased from the initial few to more than a dozen, and it had even split out a tiny lateral branch, as if it were growing with its own will.

He squatted down to observe carefully and found that the roots of the grass had penetrated the metal patterns of the wall, as if it had found some source of nutrients.

"It is growing on its own." The voice of The Artisan rang in Shen Nian's mind, "When you created it, you gave it a basic Life structure."

Then, relying on the Chaos energy of the Land of Origin, it independently completed the subsequent development.

It is no longer a blade of grass that depends on your will."

Shen Nian looked at that blade of grass, and an indescribable, complex emotion surged in his heart.

It was truly growing independently, absorbing energy in its own way and continuing Life in its own way.

Although its origin was the condensation of a will, it now possessed a trajectory of its own.

The reason for its existence was no longer that the Creator remembered it, but that it itself existed in this world.

"Senior," Shen Nian withdrew his gaze, "Junior has a matter he wishes to consult about.

In the long creation of the Tiangong Clan, have you ever created something that could autonomously continue, just like this grass?"

The radiance of The Artisan fell silent for a moment: "There has been.

But that was a long time ago.

We once created some structures capable of self-reproduction, and they did indeed develop autonomously for a period of time.

But later, all those structures stopped evolving and turned into dead ruins.

We do not know the reason."

Shen Nian's brows furrowed slightly: "Can Senior take Junior to see those ruins?"

The Artisan did not refuse. A stream of light extended from its radiance, pointing Shen Nian toward a direction deep within the Heart of Tiangong.

Shen Nian walked along that stream of light, passed through several winding passages, and finally arrived at a wide space.

This space was completely different from the core space.

The core space was bright and warm, filled with circulating warm light; but here it was cold and desolate, and even the patterns on the wall appeared dim and devoid of light.

In the center of the space stood several huge structures—some looked like an inverted tree, with roots stretching upward and branches hanging downward; some looked like a roofless tower, with multi-layered circular structures stacked together; others looked like a split cocoon, empty on the inside.

Shen Nian walked to that inverted tree-shaped structure and reached out to touch its surface.

The touch was ice-cold, with no energy flowing anymore, like a skeleton that had been dead for a long time.

He could sense the energy circuits that had once existed inside the structure, but now they had all fallen silent.

"When the Tiangong Clan created them, what were they like?" Shen Nian asked.

The radiance of The Artisan emerged beside him: "Initially, they were indeed evolving autonomously.

That tree-shaped structure once extended new branches in four directions, each branch carrying different energy attributes.

Inside the cocoon-shaped structure, a weak vitality was once gestating; we thought it would give birth to a new existence.

The tower-shaped structure was once continuously reorganizing its own layers, changing from the initial seven layers to nineteen layers."

"And then?"

"Then they stopped.

The tree no longer grew new branches, the cocoon no longer gestated new Life, the tower no longer reorganized new layers.

As if in a certain instant, all the driving forces of evolution disappeared simultaneously.

We tried to reactivate them, but all failed.

It was as if they had lost the reason to 'continue'."

Shen Nian walked around that inverted tree.

There were some fine patterns on the surface of the trunk, which were very similar to those patterns on the wall of the Heart of Tiangong.

But there was one difference—the ends of those patterns were broken, as if there had originally been a vein meant to continue extending, but it was suddenly cut off at a certain node.

"Senior," Shen Nian pointed at those broken patterns, "at the places where these patterns are broken, has anything happened?"

The radiance of The Artisan moved closer, as if identifying carefully: "These patterns... We have never noticed them.

In our eyes, they had simply stopped flowing.

But now that you mention it, they indeed look like they were interrupted by some kind of force.

Not naturally depleted, but cut off from the outside."

Shen Nian withdrew his hand and his gaze fell on that tree: "Perhaps there is nothing wrong with the creation of the Tiangong Clan, but something is preventing your creations from continuing to evolve.

Although Junior does not yet know what that is, it reminds Junior of one thing—in the Star Sea Alliance, Spiritual Veins can also be cut off by external forces.

If those forces are similar, then there is a trace to follow."

He turned to look at the cocoon-shaped structure; the cracks on its surface looked as if they had been forced open from the inside by something, yet it had not broken open completely. The interior was empty, as if something had almost been born there, but failed to successfully descend into this world.

Shen Nian was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Senior, how many such ruins are left in the Land of Origin?"

The radiance of The Artisan beat slightly: "Many.

In every era, the Tiangong Clan has tried creations that evolved autonomously, but without exception, they all stopped in the end.

Those ruins are distributed everywhere in the Land of Origin, recording the process of our every failed attempt and also recording the trajectory of our getting deeper and deeper lost."

Shen Nian looked toward that cold and desolate space: "Junior wants to go and see those ruins.

Perhaps from those creations that stopped evolving, we can find some clues as to what force is preventing them from continuing."

The radiance of The Artisan brightened up: "You want to help us find the answer?"

"Junior wants to help you recover your lost evolutionary trajectory and the original intention you forgot." Shen Nian's voice was very calm, "The problem of the Disciple and the problem of the Senior are perhaps essentially the same problem.

The Guardian Academy Disciple has forgotten the meaning of guardianship, and the Tiangong Clan has forgotten the direction of creation.

If the Disciple can find that answer, it will be a good thing for both the Disciple and you."

The radiance of The Artisan trembled slightly: "Good.

This seat will guide you.

In the Land of Origin, there are twenty-three similar ruins.

Each one records a failed attempt of ours."

Shen Nian turned around, preparing to leave this cold and desolate space. His gaze swept across those dim structures and finally landed on that tree-shaped structure.

If one day he could find the answer, if those broken patterns could be reconnected, perhaps the Tiangong Clan could also regain their own growth trajectory just like the grass he created.

He quickened his pace and walked toward the core space. The Disciple was still waiting over there, and they still had a long way to go.